E-Dawn Volume 18: July 2005 Edition
“It’s too late for me. Kill
me now before I…”-Pat O’ Reilly before transformation into an Invae
Spoiler
Alert: This journal contains spoilers for the Legend of Earthdawn Volume
1 quest: The Heart of Heroes.
PC RECAP
Pugsli’s Spy Report 5.An Old Road: New Betrayals
Charassa 1-7 1519 TH Cellesis
Boss,
We returned to Cellesis and
stayed in town for the week to train and resupply.
-P
Charassa 8 Cellesis
Boss,
We met Thunder’s father, Yind Jones, who
wanted to know where Thunder was. We told him of his fate. He requested that we
find his body in the ruins of Arrakal for a proper funeral, which we agreed to
do.
-P
Charassa 11 Arrakal
Boss,
We searched the ruins for what
was left of Thunder Jones. After we found them, his father placed his body on a
funeral pyre and delivered a eulogy, breaking down in tears. He had told
Thunder that his inability to back down would get him killed one day. I have
never seen a person so sad for being right. Near the end he placed his hands
and face in the fire, something an ork would do, but a human? When the fire
went out, he buried the ashes in the ground.
Yind
Jones then told us why he had come to see Thunder Jones. He had found out the
location of the Sword of Seeking, a treasure his family had been searching to
find for nearly 100 years. However, he was unable to go into the ruins of
Parlainth’s Western Catacomb to get it. He had heard about Thunder’s new allies
and decided to find Thunder. He offered us 400 Silver pieces to get the sword
for him. We then told him about the Curse of the Passions and our current
predicament. So he proposed a trade, he would get us the Horse Key in exchange
for us finding the Sword of Seeking for him. He needed the Whip of Dis, so he
took it from Para. It was a strange event; the two seemed to be locked in some
sort of Contest of Wills, before he finally released it from Para’s grasp. He
told us that the Whip of Dis would protect him from the Curse so that he could
use Thunder’s notes on finding Cara Fahd to find the Horse Key. I hope the old
man is right. Yind gave us the directions and maps to the Western Catacombs to
find the Sword of Seeking. We would make the exchange later, in Cellesis. Para
started giving me an attitude about the loss of the Whip of Dis, so I followed
orders and killed him with Oviare’s help like I had discussed with him in town
back in Cellesis. Then, Granite started talking about how he needed to return
to his Liferock immediately for help. We decided to return to Cellesis to
resupply before heading to the Blackheart Liferock.
-P
Charassa 14 Cellesis
Boss,
At Cellesis, Ninheim
unexpectedly decided to stay. We left him in Cellesis. We will be returning
later anyway to exchange the Sword of Seeking for the Horse Key, so we can pick
him back up then. It seemed weird to me that he was able to stay despite the power
of the Curse of the Passions though… We picked up a human horror stalker called
Ethan Horrorsbane in Cellesis. Lucky to pick up a horror stalker before going
to Parlainth, huh?
-P
Charassa 14 Response dated Charassa 28
P,
It is unusual, P. Perhaps we
need to do a lot more checking into the background of this “Ninheim.” Although
this inconsistency could be related to his being a powerful magician...
-R
Charassa 16
Boss,
A group of Theran bounty hunters
came to collect the head of Granite for a murder of a Theran. The only heads
collected were their own.
-P
Charassa 16 Response dated Charassa 29
P,
Good work, P. It is good to see
that Granite’s enemies are the same as our own.
-R
Charassa 23 Blackheart Liferock
Boss,
We arrived at the Liferock after
a long journey over the Twilight Peak’s mountain cliffs and valleys. The valley
with the Liferock was filled with two lines of troll warriors. On one side,
were the Ironmongers, and the other side with trolls that we did not recognize.
We walked up in between the two groups and asked what the confrontation was
about. Each side accused the other of poisoning the Liferock. The obsidiman
around us looked to be in a deep sleep. The Thundersky and Ironmonger
trollmoots where poised to come to war over this. Granite came forward and said
he was from this Liferock and that he would investigate what had happened. He
entered the Liferock alone. Before he returned, we saw the obsidiman around us
reawaken. He had been successful in saving his Liferock. We then left the area
for Daiche, where we get a riverboat to take us as far as the Old Theran Road.
-P
Rua 5 Daiche
Boss,
At Daiche, we were unable to get
passage by boat. Everybody around here seems to be waiting around until Rua 10
to begin sailing again. They all seem concerned about Krilworms and Krillra
swarms in the area. Sch’ella called them cowards; I could see that as a House
Iskarat boatman she thought this was not something to stop business or war
over. She continued to prowl the docks looking for a deal on passage.
-P
Rua 9 Daiche
Boss,
Ninheim wandered into town and
started making trouble, cursing at a lot of orks and t’skrangs. Apparently, his
new companion, Rick NeatherBlade, a Spirit Swordmaster, had managed to track us
to Daiche. Ninheim gave us an earful too for leaving him at Cellesis. He
thought we would come back to Cellesis after we were finished with the Liferock
mission. Ethan attacked one of Rick’s spirit servants, Alfred. Alfred wanted to
know what he had done to offend Ethan. The combination of a spirit talking to
him, and politely at that seemed to catch Ethan off guard and he stopped
attacking. That was when a bunch of buundavhim thugs came into the
Two-Tailed Tavern and grabbed him. Ethan managed to bribe the thugs to let him
go. When we got back to the tavern, Sch’ella was there and told us about an old
t’skrang pirate called T’lek who said he would give us free passage to our
destination, if Granite did a favor for him. Granite decided to accept
immediately, almost as if he knew him.
-P
Rua 9 Response dated Rua 20
P,
When a Spirit Swordmaster
manages to track you with such ease, this speaks of Passion meddling. Perhaps
“Ninheim” was only able to stave off the Curse of the Passions for so long.
T’lek?
He is a famous smuggler and pirate. Our current information says he has been
doing smuggling runs for the Scavians to avoid K’tenshin bakshevas for
selling fire kernals to House T’kambras. He was also known to smuggle
members of the Liferock rebellion during the war on their missions.
-R
Rua 10 Daiche
Boss,
We went to the docks to talk to
T’lek. T’lek told us that he needed help since someone had been kidnapping his
men and stealing his treasure at his Secret Base in the Servos Jungle. The rest
of us beside Granite decided to accept the mission. We left the port of Daiche.
There was quite a crowd of orks and t’skrangs to see us off. I do not think
Ninheim should ever return here if he values his life.
On the riverboat was a dwarf
called Demetrius, an air sailor who had come to the Tylon River to investigate
whether the airships that had crashed during the Battle of House T’kambras
could be salvaged. He was also going to Parlainth next, chasing rumors of an
adventuring group that he heard in Bartertown that were out to revive the
passions. We explained to Demetrius that there were two groups and that we were
one of them. He decided to join us on our quest.
-P
Rua 11 Secret Base
Boss,
We docked at the pirate’s secret
base on the Tylon River near the Servos Jungle. The place consisted of a huge
warehouse, a barracks, a small lighthouse, and about six guard towers made of
stout Servos tree woods. We spent the night in the barracks.
-P
Rua 12 Secret Base
Boss,
That night there was another
attack. Three t’skrangs and Pat O’ Reilly had been abducted. We found Pat O’
Reilly’s cart and Guinness barrel near the spot of the attack. He had been
drinking while on watch. Whatever had attacked had been nearly silent; we had
heard nothing in the barracks. Ethan and Rick started tracking and
investigating the spot of the attacks. We found out they had been captured by
some sort of mantis creature. We started following their tracks east.
The tracks lead to a clearing
with three mounds. The two small ones were ten feet tall; the other one was
thirty feet tall. We entered the clearing, noticing that the mounds had holes.
Giant insects came out of the mounds to defend their home. There was no sign of
the pirates or Pat. We killed off about twenty of the insects, battling our way
through to keep the pace with the tracks.
-P
Rua 13
Boss,
We found four mantis creatures
attacking four nine feet tall t’skrang! Avragar decided to save the t’skrang.
We managed to save three of the t’skrang, and Rick somehow communicated with
them in a primitive t’skrang tongue. The three Velos were the remnants of a
village to the east. They told us they would lead us to their village if we promised
to free their village and slay those that had attacked them. We accepted,
finding ourselves allied with three man-eating, nine-feet tall t’skrangs!
-P
Rua 14 Response dated Mawag 1
P,
The Velos have language?! Note
the location of the village for future reference, P.
-Av
Rua 14 Velos Village
Boss,
We kept going forward until we
reached another clearing filled with giant straw and wooden huts, the village
of the Velos. The Velos rushed in to get revenge on those who had killed their
clan and taken their village. We had to fight what seemed like an endless slew
of giant beetles, mantises, ants, and other insects. When we finally reached
the largest building, the home of the Velos Chief, we found four green cocoons
with Pat, and the three t’skrang in them. A mantis creature with eight arms and
a massive belly was here, probably their leader. We tried to free Pat and the
other t’skrang, but upon opening their cocoons, we could see that their bodies
had been transformed somehow, and had become insectile with six extra arms
popping out of their torsos. Pat pleaded with us to kill him before he was
transformed completely, then he snapped. Two insectile arms grabbed two medium
crossbows, his two other arms cranked them, and the last two loaded them with
bolts. He then fired off two flame bolts into Ethan’s chest. The t’skrangs also
turned, holding broadswords, swords, daggers, and javelins in their many arms
and their tails. Rick was the next to take two to the chest. We killed off the
leader of the bugs, but this didn’t reverse the transformation. We had to kill
Pat or be killed by his rain of flaming bolts. We cornered him in the hut,
leaving no room to use his crossbows. He dropped his two crossbows and drew out
a thorn man spear and a broadsword. For an archer, he was a skilled melee
combatant as well, delivering a couple good hits to Oviare and Granite. We
finally overwhelmed him, and turned to defeat the three boatmen. We killed
every one of the insects. The Velos started eating Pat and the t’skrang, after
we had taken their gear. We let the disgusting creatures live for helping us
wipe out the insects. What a terrible fate for a longtime travel companion.
However, us Slayers never once lied to him. “ If you don’t stop your drinking habit,
it’ll kill you one day.” I think I know how Yind felt now.
-P
Rua 17 Not so Secret Base
Boss,
We returned to the “Secret
Base.” We told T’lek about what had happened to Pat and the others. He
exclaimed, “Invae!” He then started taking everything out of the warehouse and
loading it on his ship. He gave us each 80 Silver pieces in addition to our
free passage. T’lek and his men threw oil flasks on all the buildings and
ignited them with torches. Guess he’ll need to find another secret base
location.
-P
Rua 17-23 Serpent River
Boss,
We traveled down the Tylon
through K’tenshin controlled territory on the Serpent River through Lake Pyros
and finally went to port at Lake Ban’s Floating City of House V’strimon.
-P
Rua 24-Mawag 2 Floating City
Boss,
We resupplied and rested for our
journey to Tansiarda and the trip up the Old Theran Road through the Caucavik
Mountains. Rick managed to get himself killed at The Old Man’s Reed Hat tavern
by drinking a liquor for trolls and obsidiman only called “Troll Terror.” The
bartender even made him sign a waiver, (a Hambrell’s Contract?) saying that he
was not liable for his death by drinking the stuff. And he signed it! So, when
he clutched his chest and dropped dead, I wasn’t surprised. I guess Alfred will
at least be free.
As we were leaving town, a
t’skrang wizard begged T’lek to get him out of town, and he paid a substantial
sum of 100 Silver pieces for four days of travel to Tansiarda.
-P
Mawag 6 Tansiarda
Boss,
We arrived at Tansiarda, and
immediately asked what the dwarfs there were doing. It looked like they were
trying to extend the docks over some t’skrang towers somehow. The combination
of engineers and magicians were in fact trying to make a bridge across the Serpent River! I doubt
Syrtis and many others like this project, although there could be some benefit
to being able to cross by land between the Pilgrimage Route and the Old Theran
Road. We resupplied and prepared for our journey towards Haven. The t’skrang
wizard asked to come with us. He was called Tal’sha Tailsweep and was from
House K’tenshin. He had been exiled from his house for trying to stop the
Second Theran War. Still, living in exile at House V’strimon wasn’t exactly a healthy
idea, or even here in Syrtis territory. We decided to let him come with us,
especially since a wizard could end up being useful in Parlainth. Sch’ella made
fun of his name, assaulted his sexuality, and his honor for betraying his own
house. She might have killed him had Ethan not stepped in to stop her.
-P
Mawag 9
Boss,
Ioposian scum attacked us. Their
leader told them to kill Sch’ella and Rick, but keep the wizard alive. Funny,
since Rick had already died back in the Floating City. His men decided that
Ethan was Rick. They used Blood Charms that had been made defective by the
traitorous Rick, causing one of them to burst from the inside into pieces of
flesh and organs. It got all over Oviare and his Dyre. When Ethan killed one, a
defective Death Cheat blood charm caused the user to decay super fast and
literally grow into flowers, grass, and mushrooms. We managed to defeat them,
mostly due to Rick’s defective blood charms. They managed to kill Sch’ella, but
we revived her with a Last Chance Salve. We put her barely alive and
unconscious body into Ninheim’s cart.
-P
Mawag 10
Boss,
Giant humanoids with white hair,
blue shin, and black eyes at about twelve feet tall attacked us. Frost Giants
are real? They said that they would kill us by their father Ymir’s and mother
Skandi’s honor. They tried to crush us with giant boulders and behead us with
giant axes. Luckily, the gigantic boulder sent at Ninheim’s cart missed. They
were defeated easily by a few well-placed ripostes, but they managed to damage
many of our weapons through the sheer power behind their attacks. Still, if
these twelve feet tall giants are children that would make their parents huge…
I can’t wait to get outta of this region.
-P
Mawag 10 Response dated Mawag 24
P,
I need to know the exact
location of this incident, P.
-Ro
Mawag 11
Boss,
Sch’ella finally woke up today,
but she is in bad shape. We are continuing north and east towards Haven.
-P
RUMORS
Cellesis
There
is some sort of trouble brewing between the Ironmonger and the Thundersky
trollmoots.
The
Ironmongers have split into two different clans with the Raisers of Ustrect
separating from the Ironmongers permanently.
Rumors
persist that the orks of Cara Fahd have stopped trading with all outsiders.
This does not look good for the long-term future of Cellesis and Ustrect.
Daiche
No
ships will set sail during the first week of Rua because of the possibility of
Krilworm and Krillra swarm attacks.
A
scurvy seadog named T’lek has recently come to port. He’ll do business with
just about anybody. Force of the Eye, House T’Kambras, House K’tenshin,
Scavians, doesn’t matter as long as it’s profitable.
There
seems to be a greater than normal number of disappearances in Kratas and Daiche
recently. Rumors say it might be the work of a cult like the Hand of
Corruption, or worse the horrors.
Floating City
There
are rumors that the Tower of Wood is becoming unstable. Scholars at the College
of the Vine seem to be worried.
Tensions
between House K’tenshin and House V’strimon remain high, especially as House K’tenshin has been
disrupting Scavian barges traveling northward and eastward to V’strimon and
Syrtis with bakshevas. This has meant increased prices for fire kernals
for House V’strimon and House Syrtis as the Scavians try to recoup their
losses. Additionally House K’tenshin continues to try to expand trade in the
north and south reaches of the Coil River towards Darranis and Urupa.
Tansiarda
Rumors
persist of Frost Giants in the Caucavik Mountains as big as fifty feet tall and
as small as twelve feet tall. Since the dwarfs of Throal wiped out all the
Giants, there is nothing to worry about.
The
highland raider tribes of the Caucavik Mountains are primitive, armed with
stone and bone weapons. Their ambushes have been known to use boulders. Some of
the larger tribes attack Name-giver settlements, killing all defenders,
stealing all supplies, remaining villagers, and then torching the village. This
“Scorched Earth” policy makes even some ork scorchers seem civilized by
comparison.
The
Syrtisians look poised for war with Tansiarda. The Wavram niall has long
wanted to invade Tansiarda, and looks as if the Shivalahala might grant
this request soon. This could lead to a war between Throal and Syrtis!
There
are rumors of a Ghost Ship ran by humans, which has a fire engine and bristles
with fire cannons in this region. House Syrtis dismisses this, as only a
t’skrang could maintain a ship with a fire engine for longer than three months.
I wonder if they considered if it would be needed for longer than three months.
NEW CHARACTER BIOS 8
Concepts by the
Players and Edited by Steven James Black
ETHAN HORRORSBANE (TED)
Race:
Human
Discipline:
Horror Stalker
Circle:
Fifth
Homeland:
Kratas
Character
Background: Born in Kratas as David Shadowswift. Raised on the
streets by a wily old man and lived as a street urchin with other children. We
lived by picking pockets of others in Kratas. Then we formed our own thieves’
guild after killing the old man. The name of the guild was the Streetshadow.
Went to Throal to steal some goods as the Throal Bazaar, and later sold them in
Daiche and hid the money. When he returned to Kratas, he came during the
Wormskull assault. The entire Streetshadow gang was slain. He vowed revenge and
re-Named himself Ethan Horrorsbane. He hunted down one of the wormskulls
involved, but was permanently maimed by a skin shift. The weakened Ethan
Horrorsbane was captured by Throal mercenaries for his earlier crimes and
served time for a year. After his release, he unburied his hidden treasure and
bought his gear to hunt the wormskulls down, the trails were old and they led
him to Cellesis.
Long-term
Goals: Eliminate the Cult of Verjigorm from Barsaive. Slay all
Wormskulls.
RICK NEATHERBLADE (ERIC)
Race:
Human
Discipline:
Spirit Swordmaster
Circle:
Fifth
Age: 25
Homeland:
Iopos
Character
Background: Born in Iopos, he showed extraordinary promise in
working with both spirits and blood magic. His father reported this skill to
the Denairastas clan. His mother didn’t want him to become a nethermancer and
tried to stop the Silver Branch kidnappers. The Silver Branch kidnappers
captured his mother and put her in jail, and forced young Rick to become a
nethermancer. Knowing his mother’s wishes, he became a spirit weaponmaster
instead and decided to focus on the sword as his weapon of choice. Rick was
forced to create blood charms for the Iopos war effort. They promised all sorts
of harm to his mother if he should stop creating blood charms. He used his
spirit servants to help him in his tasks by bringing him food and water as he
worked tirelessly on creating blood charms. He grew attached to one, a polite
spirit servant he Named Alfred and summoned him to the exclusion of others.
Alfred became almost a surrogate father to him. Rick decided to escape Iopos and
rigged a bunch of blood charms to cause depatterning. Many of the Silver and
Gold Branch guards who attempted to stop him were killed by this effect. He escaped Iopos and decided to go as far as
possible away from the city, to the other side of Barsaive, Parlainth.
Long-term
Goals: Escape his Ioposian pursuers.
Save his mother from
Iopos jail. Find his
soulsword. Start a school for warrior/magicians like spirit weaponmasters and
elemental warriors.
DEMETRIUS PTASZEK (SETH)
Race:
Dwarf
Discipline:
Air Sailor
Circle:
Fifth
Homeland:
Throal
Character
Background: Demetrius was born on the deck of an airship to a
middling merchant family. Groomed to assume a role in the family
business trading with the various t'skrang houses, the family initiated
Demetrius into the air sailor Discipline to further that goal. Unfortunately
for them, Demetrius choose a very different path in life. Spurning a position
in the family business, Demetrius choose a life of adventure in the skies above
Barsaive. Through his many adventures, he has earned a reputation as a
kind, jolly dwarf who does his very best to help all those in need. Reflecting
on the plight of non-adepts in Barsaive during his travels, he decided to dedicate
a significant amount of time toward becoming a journeyman physician in order to
help those who do not possess an adept's magical recovery abilities. Sadly,
Demetrius' selflessness kept him in a near-constant state of penury. Demetrius
spent many years as a wandering vagabond. Never content to remain with an
adventuring group for more than several months, Demetrius' good deeds strangely
had a rootless, restless, almost purposeless quality to them. All that changed
when he found himself sealed in Throal during the recent troubles with Thera
and the Horror Storms. Though he talks about the specifics only to his closest
friends, it is clear that the events in Throal and especially the coup attempt
against King Neden profoundly affected him. Now, Demetrius walks with more
purpose in his steps, and those steps carry him to Parlainth where he seeks to
investigate rumors he keeps hearing about an adventuring group on a unique
mission.
Long-term
Goals: Help Barsaive heal from the wounds of the war, wipe away
the scars left by the horrors, investigate lore surrounding the Passions,
reconcile with his family over not joining the family business.
TAL’SHA TAILSWEEP (ERIC)
Race:
T’skrang
Discipline:
Wizard
Circle:
Fifth
Age: 22
Homeland:
K’tenshin
Character
Background: Born in K’tenshin, he thought that K’tenshin should
think about its role in Barsaive and opposed re-allying with the Therans. When
the Behemoth landed and House K’tenshin fully allied with Thera, he attempted
to steal a valuable pattern item of Shivalahala K’tenshin. The attempt
was thwarted by her guards, and Tal’sha was captured and exiled to House
V’strimon; a fate far worse than death according to the Shivalahala. At
the Floating City, he spoke out about the war, but mostly to the jeers of the
people. The people of V’strimon labeled him as a spy of K’tenshin. He was
forced to hide out in the seedier side of town during the entire war and
struggle to survive. After the treaty, he started gathering money to try to get
out of the Floating City.
Long-term
Goals: Leave the Floating City and go
somewhere else, anywhere else. Escape K’tenshin and V’strimon oppression. Start
a business and raise a family far away from the ravages of war.
CHARACTER GRAVEYARD 5
Para was killed at
Arrakal by Pugsli’s back attack and Oviare’s charge.
Pat O’ Reilly was
transformed into an Invae Warrior and subsequently killed by the party.
Rick was killed by
a massive, systemic heart attack after imbibing the alcoholic drink “Troll
Terror.”
RULES UPDATE: Death Spikes
I have decided that Death Spikes
can only do damage every round if the character makes a movement, or an action.
Otherwise, the character takes Death Spikes damage every hour until the effect
ends.
Current Projects
For the EDPT newsletter, I have
typed up 7 Sands Campaigns Volume 1: The Journal of Crag Hack Part 1. I
will also upload this article to the FILES section of the E-Dawn Discussion
Group once it has been released as well. 7 Sands Campaigns is a chronicle of
our Earthdawn campaigns from the very beginning. E-Dawn will continue focused
on the current campaign.
I also have been working on some
other projects as well. I am currently doing research for my Far Eastern
campaign setting. I am also thinking about putting up my Dimazad module on the
7 Sands, but I want the 7 Sands Campaign article out before that to see if
there is any interest.
As for Redbrick, I have mostly
been working on Barsaive Beginnings, waiting for us to get to work on
the Gamemaster’s Compendium.
UNUSUAL RACE/DISCIPLINE COMBINATIONS 15
The
Horror Stalker is actually a common Discipline IMB, and is often taken as a
secondary Discipline by many characters at higher Circles. The vast majority of
them have been humans, orks, and elves. Less common have been trolls,
obsidiman, dwarfs, and windlings. I have even seen blood elf horror stalkers
IMB! I have never seen a t’skrang Horror Stalker as a first Discipline choice
though, so that is this month’s unusual Race/Discipline combination.
T’skrang Horror Stalker
Advantages:
The t’skrang racial tail attack is a huge boon to the horror stalker, since
other races will have to wait until Seventh Circle to get another attack. The
+1 Dexterity Attribute bonus will help the t’skrang hit more often will melee
weapons and employ stealth tactics. The +1 Toughness Attribute bonus will help
the character survive despite the Discipline’s (6/5) Durability (Average, but
weak when horrors are your main target!), and can increase their Deathstrike
damage as well. The +1 Charisma Attribute is a slight advantage, assisting with
Empathic Sense, Bardic Voice, and Confront Horror talents, and can help on
Artisan Tests.
Disadvantages: The
character lacks both a Perception and Willpower Attribute bonus, which is a
hindrance since almost all horror stalker talents are based on these two
attributes.
Neutral: The
character lacks a Strength Attribute bonus, but the t’skrang horror stalker
should not be built around power, and a player wishing to play that type would
be better served playing an obsidiman, troll, ork, or dwarf.
Attributes (66
purchase points):
DEX: 13+1=(14):
6/D10
STR: 11=(11):
5/D8
TOU: 13+1=(14):
6/D10
PER: 15=(15):
6/D10
WIL: 16=(16):
7/D12
CHA: 10+1=(11):
5/D8
Commentary: The
best background for a t’skrang horror stalker would be a desire to clear all of
the waters of all horrors. The character’s biggest target would be Druidstat
of course, but while adventuring by boat he would be willing to take on all
sorts of shilagrue horrors and other water horrors.
An
adventure focusing on the travels of a t’skrang vessel built by all five major
houses, with crewmembers from each t’skrang house, specially made to hunt down
water-based horrors would be high on intra-crew politics and tension, as well
as be a great way to get involved in all sorts of water-based mischief.
Horror-marked water spirits, invae encampments, and whatever else the
gamemaster’s imagination can think of. The best time to run that would be
before Prelude to War or after Barsaive at War. The pre-Prelude
to War version would be a great way to show the rift between House
K’tenshin and the other houses and build up to Prelude to War. The post-Barsaive
at War version could be a great way to have the player characters have a
role in restoring the relationship between House K’tenshin and the other
houses.
Another
background for the character is a k’stulaami t’skrang horror stalker who
wants to cleanse the entire Throal Mountain area of all horrors, including
Braza’s Kingdom to help the House of the Spirit Wind. This character concept
fits better into many Bartertown/Throal centric adventures and campaigns,
especially those in the Throal Adventures book.
Statistically, increasing the
character’s Perception Attribute by 1 point increases Perception to step 7, and
Spell Defense by +1. Increasing the character’s Toughness Attribute by 2 points
increases his Toughness step to 7. Increasing the character’s Dexterity
Attribute by 2 points increases Dexterity step to 7, and Physical Defense by
+1. Following this makes the character’s Attributes look like this at Sixth
Circle:
Attributes
(Sixth Circle):
DEX: 13+1[+2]=(16):
7/D12
STR: 11=(11):
5/D8
TOU: 13+1[+2]=(16):
7/D12
PER: 15[+1]=(16):
7/D12
WIL: 16=(16):
7/D12
CHA: 10+1=(11):
5/D8
For
skills, the t’skrang horror stalker fighting water-based horrors should
probably learn Pilot Boat and Water Tracking, or just multi-Discipline right
into Boatman. Other survival skills can be very useful, especially Climbing,
Fishing, and Great Leap. Putting more ranks into Swimming and Sailing is also
very useful. Navigation, and Read and Write Maps are also useful since they
combine well with Tracking and Water Tracking. Surprise Strike is a good one to
take for a little extra punch when using Silent Walk to flank foes. Many of
these skills are also good for the k’stulaami horror stalker as well,
since Braza’s Kingdom is mostly accessible only through underground rivers.
Although some other skills especially Wilderness Survival will be more
necessary for the character, and Great Leap is probably not as essential.
For
multi-Discipline, the boatman is a great combination with either t’skrang
horror stalker since it offers an extraordinary skill set for the purpose of
the character and adds many combat talents that help for variation. The k’stulaami
horror stalker might want to consider the elementalist Discipline as well, as
it offers spells like Purify Water, Plant Feast, and Repair, that can greatly
extend the distance of the journey a party can make into Braza’s Kingdom.
Spells like Path Home can also assist in getting out of Braza’s Kingdom. These
spells are also just as useful for traveling in the Throal Mountains,
especially spells like Resist Cold.
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